Optimisation of TES design for the CRESST experiment
arXiv:2605.07592 · doi:10.1109/TASC.2026.3680071
Abstract
The CRESST experiment aims at the direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter particles via elastic scattering off nuclei in different target crystals at cryogenic temperatures. The advancement in W-TES sensors allowed the CRESST detectors to reach energy thresholds of 10 eV and lower, opening the way to the exploration of dark matter masses as low as 70 MeV/c2. This work presents optimisation studies of W-TESs aimed at further improving the signal-to-noise ratio and overall detector performance. In particular, we investigate the thickness, dimensions and material composition of phonon collectors and assess their impact on detector response. The results demonstrate a significant performance enhancement and establish new benchmarks for the sensors used within CRESST.
7 pages, 9 figures. This article has been accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity